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Twelve out of the 13 colonies voted in favor of independence on July 2, 1776. The Second Continental Congress officially adopted the document on July 4, 1776, and the United States became independent.

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The colonists found out about this ahead of time, and a small group of minutemen, or American civilian soldiers, met them on the way. At this small skirmish, eight minutemen died but only one British soldier was hurt.

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On December 16, 1773, a group of men dressed up like Native Americans, snuck onto a British ship docked in Boston Harbor, and dumped crates of tea into the ocean as a symbol of their unhappiness.

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Throughout the 1600s, British influence in North America continued to grow as more and more colonists flooded the region.

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In the 1600s and 1700s, Great Britain held a vast empire with colonies all over the world.